Ship preserver means



y 18, 1965 I s. M. KRONHAUS 3,183,876

SHIP PRESERVER MEANS Filed May 19, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. S N Ma KQoNHAus BY W4 Vudm ATTORNEYS y 18, 1965 s. M. KRONHAUS 3,183,876

SHIP PRESERVER MEANS 7 Filed May 19, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. nsEMEN M. k'zo/w-m us ATTOQN EVs United States Patent 3,183,876 SHIP PRESERVER MEANS Semen M. Krouhaus, 4012 Shelburn Court, Los Angeles, Calif. Filed May 19, 1964, Ser. No. 368,647 6 Ciaims. (Cl. 114229) This invention has to do generally with safety devices for use in connection with ships, and more particularly with a means for temporarily closing a hole in a ships hull such as may have been caused by a collision or accident.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved safety means adapted to be mounted on a ship for use in closing a hole in the hull of a ship produced by a collision or other causes for the purpose of preserving the ship against sinking.

Another object is to provide a mobile means in the nature of a ship safety device which is mounted on a ship and can be moved from its normal place of storage to a location proximate to the damaged portion of the hull and caused to operate therefrom in a manner to cover and close the damaged portion of the hull.

A further object is to provide novel means for protecting either the bow or stern portion of a ship.

Still another object is to provide means for closing a hole in a ships hull located at a region intermediate the bow and stern of the ship.

More particularly it is an object to provide a flexible curtain on a ship and means for so positioning the curtain that it can be unrollod from a point below the damaged hole in the hull upwardly and over the hole to cover and substantially close the same.

A further object is to provide novel apparatus for manipulating a curtain so that it may be unrolled from a condition of storage over a damaged portion of the hull of a ship.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and the following description. Referring to the drawings, which are largely diagrammatic in character:

FIG. 1 is aside elevational view of a ship showing means thereon embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the ship but showing parts of the invention in a different position;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the stern of the ship as shown in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views similar to FIG. 3 but showing the apparatus in successive positions;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the stern portion of the ship opposite to that seen in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary isometric view of one of the carriages and associated structure;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view through a portion of the curtain;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view of the bow portion of the ship with the curtain thereof extended; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary plan view on line 11-11 of FIG. 1.

More particularly describing the invention, numeral 11 generally designates a ship having a hull 12 in which there is shown a hole 13 as may have been caused by collision or accident, the hole appearing on the opposite side of the ship as viewed in FIG. 1.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a method and means for covering the hole 13 with a relatively strong flexible curtain provided the hole is located between the ends of the ship and to accomplish this, various means may be provided. The essence of the method 3,183,876 Patented May 18, 1965 "ice involved is the provision of a rolled-up curtain 14 and the lowering of this down the side of the ship opposite to that in which the damage or hole is located to a point beneath the hull or at least below the hole, and the subsequent unrolling of the curtain upwardly over the damaged area of the hull to cover the hole. Various means may be used for supporting the curtain, and I merely show one such means in a semi-diagrammatic form.

Referring to the means shown in the drawings, on each side of the ship I provide a track 15 which extends longitudinally substantially the full length of the ship. Each track supports a carriage 18 which is movable along the track so that the carriages can be positioned proximate to the damaged portion of the hull in the event of collision or accident. The carriages are provided with guide elements 20 and 21 which are shown as tubular members of a size and shape such that they can be positioned to extend from one carriage to the other carriage under the hull of the ship as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, for example. In FIG. 1, the guide elements are shown disposed for storage about the stern 23 of the ship, the elements being hinged at 24 for this purpose. Any suitable means may be used to hold them in storage position.

The guide elements are each provided with a cable 25 and facing slots 26. The carriage normally supports the curtain 14 in rolled-up condition upon a spindle 28 which is mounted for rotation in end plates 30. The latter are provided with guide wheels 31 so that the assembly is movable along the guide elements. The end plates also are attached as by clamps 32 to the cables within the guide tubes. The curtain assemblies are normally suspended from the carriages by a releasable latch 33 or other suitable means. The outer end 34 of the curtain is attached to a drum 35 by two lines 36. The cables 25 in the guide elements are operated by powered winches 38 on each of the carriages. Also, a winch 49 on each side of the shipmay be used to advance the carriage by means of a cable 41.

When'an emergency arises, causing a hole 13 or other damage to the hull, the guide elements 20 and 21 are lowered and the carriages moved forward so that the guide elements encompass the damaged area of the ship's hull as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6. Preferably, then, the rolled-up curtain 14 on the side of the ship opposite to that in which the damaged area or hole is located is lowered on the guide elements to a desired position such, for example, as the position shown in FIG. 4 where the roll is beneath the hull. During this operation the lines 36 are payed out so that the rolled-up curtain does not unroll. Thereafter the lines 36, which may be of predetermined length, are held and the rolled-up curtain is further moved along the guide elements, causing the curtain to unwind and cover the area around the hole 13 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Movement of the rolled-up curtain is accomplished by movement of the lines or cables 25 by means of winches 38. In this connection it may be pointed out that, since I only desire to move a selected one of said curtains, the clamps 32 may be of a type to grip the cables 25 when the cables are moved downwardly and to allow slippage when they are moved in the opposite direction. Thus there is slippage between the cables 25 and clamps 32 of the curtain at the carriage where the winches 38 are drawing the cables 25 upwardly for the purpose of moving the curtain on the opposite side of the ship down and under the hull and up over the damaged area.

If desired, to prevent premature unrolling of the curtain as it is lowered, I may employ sheer pins (not shown) or other similar-type means to accomplish this and the sheer pins or other mechanism would break and allow the curtain to unwind only after it has reached the desired area.

While I have set forth a method of operating a curtain, I also contemplate that the curtain may be unrolled by transposing the parts so that the outer edge of the cur tain is pulled away from the body of the rolled-up curtain. Also, I contemplate that in some cases it may be desirable to merely unroll the curtain to cover a hole or damaged portion of the hull from the carriage located closest to the hole rather than from the one on the opposite side of the hull. Also, in its broader aspects, my invention includes the movement of a curtain from a place of storage to cover the hole or other damage Whether or not the curtain is manipulated by unrolling.

The curtain itself may be made of any flexible material such as heavy duty canvas or a Fiberglas reinforced fabric or plastic, and in FIG. 9 I show a section through a curtain which is comprised of two layers 44 and 45 of heavy duty flexible material and a plurality of spaced metal tubes 46 therebetween extending transversely thereof. It will be apparent that the tubes will serve to bridge the damaged area or hole 13 in the hull and support the curtain over the hole.

I also provide means for protecting either end of the ship or covering a hole in the hull thereof to prevent entrance of water. This comprises a hood 5% such as I show in FIGS. 1, 2, 10 and 11 adapted to cover the bow of the ship. If desired, a similar structure may be used at the other end of the ship. The hood comprises av pair of supporting tracks 51 to which a plurality of ribs 52 are secured for movement therealong. The ribs are covered with and support a flexible hood material 53. The hood may be carried stored as shown in FIG. 1 or by suitable means it may be further collapsed and stored beneath the deck of the ship. It will be apparent that the hood may be opened by swinging it about the guide tracks as shown in the figures referred to. Suitable cables or lines and winches may be used for the purpose.

Although I have shown and described preferred forms of my inventioml contemplate that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for temporarily closing a hole in a ships hull caused by a collision or accident, a carriage mounted on each side of the ship for movement longitudinally thereof, substantially rigid guide elements connecting said carriages and movable to a position such that they extend from one carriage down the adjacent side of the ship, under the hull thereof and up the other side of the ship to the other carriage, a rolled-up curtain supported on one carriage, means for lowering said rolled-up curtain to a predetermined point, said curtain being guided in its movement by said guide elements, and means for unrolling said curtain from said point onward along the ships hull to cover the opening therein.

2. In apparatus for temporarily closing a hole in a ships hull caused by collision 'or accident, substantially rigid guide means movably carried by the ship and adapted to be positioned around at least a portion of the ships hull from side to side, 'a curtain, means mounting the curtain for movement along said guide means, and means for moving said curtain along said guide means to position the same over said hole.

3. The apparatus set forth in claim 2 in which means is provided associated with said guide means for supporting said curtain in rolled-up form and for enabling the same to be moved in rolled-up form along said guide means to a given region and to enable it to be unrolled from said region.

4. In means for temporarily closing a hole in the hull of a ship caused by collision or accident, a track along each side of the ship extending longitudinally thereof, a carriage movable along each said track, means for moving said carriages to position them at a desired point along the track corresponding to the location of the hole, substantially rigid guide elements extending from one carriage beneath the hull of the ship to the other carriage, a relatively strong curtain carried by at least one of said carriages in rolled-up form, means for lowering said curtain in rolled-up form along said guide elements to a given region below the waterline, and means for unrolling said curtain from said given region onward to cover the hole in the hull.

5. In means for closing a hole in the hull of a ship caused by accident, a track along each side of the ship extending longitudinally thereof above the waterline, a carriage movable along each track, means for moving said carriages to position them opposite and above the hole, a pair of substantially tubular, substantially rigid guide elements extending from one carriage around and beneath the hull to the other carriage, a curtain support carried by one of said carriages, a curtain on said support in rolled-up form, means for lowering said curtain support along said guide elements to a given point short of said hole including cables within said guide ele ments and means connecting said curtain support to said cables, and means for unrolling said curtain onward from said given point to cover said hole.

6. The structure set forth in claim 5 in which said guide elements are pivotally mounted on said carriages whereby to be swung upwardly around an end of the ship for storage. 7 7

References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 373,133 11/87 Duncan 114-229 1,345,771 7/20 Hewett 114-229 1,511,155 10/24 Blumberg 114-229 1,550,144 8/725 Blumberg 114229 1,573,909 2/26 Blumberg 114-229 FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN APPARATUS FOR TEMPORARILY CLOSING A HOLE IN A SHIP''S HULL CAUSED BY A COLLISION OR ACCIDENT, A CARRIAGE MOUNTED ON EACH SIDE OF THE SHIP FOR MOVEMENT LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF, SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID GUIDE ELEMENTS CONNECTING SAID CARRIAGES AND MOVABLE TO A POSITION SUCH THAT THEY EXTEND FROM ONE CARRIAGE DOWN THE ADJACENT SIDE OF THE SHIP, UNDER THE HULL THEREOF AND UP THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SHIP TO THE OTHER CARRIAGE, A ROLLED-UP CURTAIN SUPPORTED ON ONE CARRIAGE, MEANS FOR LOWERING SAID ROLLED-UP CURTAIN TO A PREDETERMINED POINT, SAID CURTAIN BEING GUIDED IN ITS MOVEMENT BY SAID GUIDE ELEMENTS, AND MEANS FOR UNROLLING AND CURTAIN FROM SAID POINT ONWARD ALONG THE SHIP''S HULL TO COVER THE OPENING THEREIN. 